Vigo’s shipbuilders renewed Greenland's fishing fleet

The Freire and Metalships shipyards built several factory ships for fishing for cod, shrimp, and halibut. Nodosa, in Marín, contributed with two merchant vessels.

Vigo’s shipbuilding sector has contributed in recent years to the Greenland fishing Fleet growth and modernization; an island territory of Denmark the United States seeks to control. In the port of Nuuk, the most important port, vessels built in Vigo are proudly displayed. These fishing boats operate in Arctic waters in search of shrimp, cod, red shrimp, and halibut, among other species.

Freire shipyard stands out as one of the key players in the renewal of this fishing fleet. The Vigo-based shipbuilding group built several vessels for Greenlandic shipowners, such as ‘Markus’ and ‘Polar Nattoralik’, 80-meter-long freezer trawlers built in 2019 for Polar Seafood. Metalships also built 'Nataarnaq' and 'Akamalik', freezer trawlers for Royal Greenland, the largest fishing company in the territory and wholly owned by the government.

In 2018, Metalships delivered the 'Regina C' to Niisa Trawl Aps, based in Nuuk, the island's capital. The 79-meter-long vessel was designed to operate in heavy ice and equipped for shrimp fishing. This contract was a lifeline for the Vigo shipyard, which had no work at the time. Valued at around €50 million, it was the largest trawler the shipyard had ever built.

Meanwhile, Nodosa, based in Marín, built two merchant ships. One is 'Arpaarti Arctica', which operates on the Royal Arctic Line and is responsible for supplying goods by sea to all of Greenland. It carries general cargo and refrigerated goods. He also built ‘Tilioq Arctica’ for the same shipowner in 2022.

For Denmark, the country to which Greenland belongs, Freire is currently working on a polar oceanographic vessel, ‘Dana V’. It is designed to navigate almost silently and will be equipped with state-of-the-art technology and long-range navigation capabilities allowing it to operate in the most demanding Arctic conditions.

Source: Atlántico Diario